Bangladesh
- 16.5 million people
- face acute food insecurity
- 980,000
- Rohingya refugees
- 7th
- in ranking of countries most affected by climate-related disasters
Bangladesh has experienced sustained economic growth in recent years – one of the fastest in Asia prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 37 million people face acute food insecurity.
The country has also been dealing with a massive influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar since 2017.
The country’s low elevation and vast watercourses leave it greatly susceptible to climate shocks. In May 2024, Cyclone Remal struck the southern coastal regions and caused the most devastating destruction of recent years. Nearly 5 million people across 19 districts in Khulna and Barishal divisions were affected and nearly 900,000 people are in urgent need of assistance, with almost all facing food shortages and skipping meals.
The World Food Programme (WFP) was on the ground to assist people with cash transfers and emergency food assistance.
Over the past 50 years, WFP has supported more than 155 million people through both emergency response and longer-term resilience building..
While continuing to provide humanitarian assistance, WFP has shifted towards a more advisory role, assisting the Government in efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 on ending hunger.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Bangladesh
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Refugee response
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WFP provides life-saving food assistance to all refugees in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char Island. Through food vouchers, refugees receive monthly food rations, including rice, lentils, oil and fresh items such as vegetables and fruits. WFP also runs nutrition prevention and treatment programmes, school meal activities and disaster risk reduction programmes for both the refugees and the Bangladeshi community in Cox’s Bazar. In addition, the most vulnerable Bangladeshi women in the surrounding communities receive training and support to launch income-generating activities, while refugees participate in WFP self-reliance programmes to enhance their food security and skills development.
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Safety nets
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WFP provides technical assistance and capacity strengthening to some of the country’s largest social safety net programmes, with a focus on women and children living in extreme poverty. Together with partners, including private sector food producers and processors, WFP works to ensure the quality, availability and affordability of nutritious food, with a specific focus on fortified rice uptake both among the population enrolled in social safety nets and through commercial markets. Since 2001, WFP has been a key partner in the national school feeding programme, which has reached over 3 million children. The aim is to reach 3.5 million children in the coming years.
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Resilience building
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To protect lives and livelihoods from recurrent disasters and build resilience, WFP is testing innovative tools, including climate risk insurance and forecast-based financing, implemented in some of the most disaster-prone and poverty-stricken areas in the country. WFP technical assistance in supply chain and information management is also strengthening the capacity of national institutions to implement effective disaster risk reduction and prepare for and respond to climate shocks.
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Humanitarian coordination and common services
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Led by WFP, the Emergency Telecommunications Sector provides security telecommunications and data connectivity to humanitarian partners in Cox’s Bazar. On Bhasan Char, the WFP-led Common Services Sector provides logistics and telecommunications services, enabling humanitarian access to the island, data connectivity, coordination, security telecommunications and warehouse management. WFP recently signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) to enhance common services for humanitarian partners on the island.
Bangladesh news releases
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Achieving Zero Hunger is the work of many. Our work in Bangladesh is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:
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Find out more about the state of food security in Bangladesh
Visit the food security analysis pageOperations in Bangladesh
Contacts
Office
IDB Bhaban 14th, 16th and 17th Floor E/8-A, Rokeya Sharani Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207
Dhaka
Bangladesh
Phone
+880 2 91830-22 /-23 /-24 /-25
Fax
+880 2 9183020